Crafting your online profile

Tips for managing your own online presence

Jenny Cameron ALIA RAIS Seminar

October 2014

Why Social Media?

Why is it important for you as an information professional?

• To connect with people and reach new audiences

• Discover new information, use as a news feed

• Have an impact on your profession, and raise your profile, and your prospects

Credibility/impact – you need to be there, so craft your image to your advantage

Your digital footprint

What do you look like online?

Google yourself – how easy is it to find you?

You might need to add a keyword for common names Think of what words others will use, e.g. Librarian

Online privacy

• How different is it to living in a small 19th century village?

• Let people know enough about you so they don’t have to make it up (to your detriment)

• Think about privacy in terms of respect for others, integrity of self Not out of fear of who might hear (read) it

• Only say (write) things that can be heard in a crowded street or cafe

Imagined audiences

• Be mindful of ‘collapsed contexts’ and your imagined audience

• Our ‘imagined audience’ doesn't necessarily take into account all the potential readers

• “Let the other person filter rather than me choose what to share” is how young people approach this This is difficult for older people to understand

“It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens” by Danah Boyd

Image crafting

Image crafting:

Presenting your best side (bragging?)

People come to know us through our crafted identity

We craft our identities with people we meet face-to-face, so what's wrong with doing it online?

Professional vs Personal

• Separate identities?

• If you blog, even privately, who do you represent?

Your private reputation can affect your organisation

• Librarians blogging: #blogJune

• Who is your audience?

• What do you want to be known for?

Time constraints

• How much time have you got to lurk and participate in online places?

• Think hard about where you spend your time, and who it is for

• Working from home, playing at work?

Is social media legitimate work?

Following librarians on Twitter is professional development

Online makeover

• Create a website or blog as an ePortfolio

• Think about getting your own domain name

• Link elements of your online profile together

Make it easy for people to find what you want them to find

• At very least work on your LinkedIn profile and your Twitter profile (and link them)

Craft your profile

Twitter profile:

Use those 160 characters wisely

Link to blog or website (or LinkedIn)

Check your digital appearance

• Know what people find when they Google you can you do something about what they find?

• Does Facebook leave traces of your activities open to public? Search Google Images

You might be surprised

Different devices can default to public (you can change that)

A well crafted profile gives good search results

Thank-you

www.researchsupportlibrarian.com.au

www.linkedin.com/in/jacameron t: @jacameron1 t: @PBHAust (my other identity)